Hand luggage



H. E. RUBENS HAND LUGGAGE Filed Dec.

Jan. 31, 1967 INVENTOR- United States Patent 3,301,358 HAND LUGGAGEHarry Ernest Rubens, Westport, Conn. (2 Sutton Place S., New York, N.Y.10022) Filed Dec. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 328,245 Claims. (Cl. 190-20) Thisinvention relates to luggage intended to be carried by hand, and moreparticularly to luggage provided with rollers for ease in transport.

It is an object of the invention to provide luggage with self-containedrolling means in the event porters are not available.

Further objects are to provide such luggage with special shapes,eliminating the need for storage space for the rolling means when theluggage is not in use; to provide such luggage with rolling means thatare instantly available; to provide luggage with rolling means which donot necessarily add extra weight and cost; to provide stronger and moredurable hand luggage than is conventionally provided; and to provide allthe foregoing objects in luggage adapted to mass roduction methods.

I accomplish the foregoing and other objects of the invention, andobtain my new results by providing luggage in wheel form which can beeasily rolled on the rim of the wheel, having advantages readilyapparent from the following description, particularly pointed out in theclaims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross section in part, taken on a diametricplane passing through the ballbearing support, and looking in thedirection of the latching means for the removable lid of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a end view of FIG. 2 with the cover removed showing adesirable partition layout;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross section of a bearing support;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-section in part of another embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view through plane 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a further embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view of the rim construction of anotherembodiment.

FIGURE 1 of the drawing comprises a drum-shaped container 10, which maybe molded of thermo-plastic materials, wood veneers, or other type ofexisting luggage materials.

The rim 12 may be formed with peripheral fins 14 spaced apartsufliciently to give the container upright stability. A tough resilienttrack 16 may be sewn or otherwise attached to the fins to provideresilient operation.

The drum opening is formed with a seat 18 for lid 20 which may besecured to the container by inserting projection 22 into recess 24 ofthe rim, and causing the latch 26 of the lock 28 to be projected intothe catch 30.

The parallel partitions 32 may be used to divide the container as shownin FIG. 3 allowing central chamber 34 to be formed for suits, dresses,and similar articles while small top and bottom chambers 36 may be usedfor smaller items. Straps 38 can be utilized to secure the articles whenthe luggage is being transported.

For rolling, a ball-bearing support 40 may be provided for each flatside or end of the luggage as is shown in FIG. 4, which may include thehandle 42, the flexible or rigid connecting members which can be a chain44, or strap, connecting the handle to the ball-bearing housing 46. Thehousing contains the ball-bearing race 48, a

3,301,353 Patented Jan. 31, 1967 central shaft 50 having a square shapedplug 52, and a'setscrew 54, operable by a coin or the like to lock theplug to similarly shaped recess 56 in hub 58 mounted on the flat sidesof the luggage at their centers.

Thus when the luggage container is packed and the lid secured, thehandle can be used to pull the luggage from one point to another withouthaving to carry the entire weight. The ball-bearing supports willprovide a substantially frictionless motion enabling a heavy piece ofluggage to be readily rolled on the rims with a finger.

The luggage container may be made adjustable as is shown in FIGURE 5where the container is provided with two container halves or sections10a and 1% which can telescope one into the other to form a closedcontainer. The two tracks may be provided on the outside rim of half 10aor one track on each half such as 1611 and 1611 as shown. In the lattercase the track 16b will extend sufiicient-ly radially to provide uprightsupport.

A method for locking the two container halves together is shown inFIGURES 5 and 6 wherein the inner half is provided with threaded sockets60 which may be formed on the rim of inner half 10b, while bolts 62 areprovided in the flat end of the compartment half 1011. The bolts may berotated in the lid by a coin fitting into slot 64 of the head 66 of thebolt. The shoulder 68 in the flat side of the half will engage theshoulder 70 on the bolt to permit rotation While urging the two halvestogether. The head of the bolt may be provided with a lock 72 by which akey fitting into the cross-slot 74 will cause a latch 7-6 to engagecatch 78 in the wall of the container.

In FIGURE 7 a dufile bag type of rolling container 100 is shown, withlid 20c openable as shown to make the contents available. The containerincluding the lid may be provided with hinges 80 and lock 82 as shown.

The tracks of the luggage forming the invention may consist ofsubstantially shape retaining material such as metal or plastic with aresilient cover such as rubber. The tracks can be joined by flexiblematerial such as canvas to form the drum-shaped luggage. If such luggageis firmly packed the Whole becomes substantially shaperetaining forrolling.

As is shown in FIGURE 8 the luggage may be made by using trackspositioned on member or rim 91 with the wheel-shaped compartment 92spaced from the tracks and rim 91 by ball-bearings 94. In this mannerthe compartment need not be rotated during transport because the tracks90 with the rim 91 will roll along the supporting surface. This ofcourse would be a more expensive construction.

The luggage can be easily stored by removing the ball bearing support,thus leaving the side substantially flat for storing one upon the other.

The drum shaped luggage is substantially stronger than conventionaloblong luggage. Any type of outside track may be utilized which willpermit the luggage to be rolled either by pulling the flexible supportor by pushing a rigid support in place of the chain or straps.

One narrow track may be used in place of a wider or spaced-apart tracks,but of course more effort is required to manipulate and balance suchluggage in rolling the same.

I have thus described my invention, but I desire it understood that itis not confined to the particular form or uses shown and described, thesame being merely illustrative, and that the invention may be carriedout in other Ways without departing from the spirit of my invention, andtherefore I claim broadly the right to employ all equivalentinstrumentalities com-ing within the scope of the appended claims, andby means of which objects of my invention are obtained and new resultsaccomplished, since the particular embodiments here-in shown anddescribed are only several of the many that can be employed to obtainthese objects and accomplish these results.

I claim:

1. Wheel shaped luggage comprising a wheel, said wheel having a rim forrolling on a supporting surface, and a luggage compartment positionedinside the rim for transporting clothing and other articles, saidluggage compartment having two fiat ends, one end thereof being entirelyremovable and forming a closure; and a bar forming a handle havingattaching members, at least one of the attaching members being securedto the closure, and movable therewith, the other attaching member beingsecured to the opposite end of the luggage compartment, said bar hav-inga length in excess of the distance between the two ends of thecompartment so that by grasping the bar the luggage compartment can befreely rolled and lifted with one hand.

2. The luggage of claim 1 wherein the attaching members of the handleare flexible.

3. The luggage of claim 1 wherein ball-bearings are positioned betweenthe rim and the luggage compartment whereby the rim can be rotated withrespect to the compartment.

4. The luggage of claim 1, wherein the luggage compartment is providedwith partitions, and said partitions and one flat end are formed of asingle piece of material.

5. The luggage of claim 1, wherein the luggage compartment comprisestelescopic section-s, each section including a flat end, and means areprovided for securing the sections in a variety of positions.

4 References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 146,616 1/1874Scoville 190-20 284,825 9/1883 Deimel 190-20 311,176 1/1885 Deimel190-20 311,919 2/1885 Redmond et al. 190-20 318,455 5/1885 Deimel 190-20395,055 12/1888 Hyde 190-18 432,138 7/1'89O Jones l-20 508,057 11/1893Stechhan 190-22 X 546,429 9/ 1895 ONea-ll 190-20 666,967 1/1901 Marx eta1. 1,153,250 9/1915 Phillips 46-220 X 1,206,187 11/1916 Whitfield 94-501,250,591 12/1917 Karl 94-50 1,924,644 8/1933 Himmelberger 94-502,756,830 7/1956 Hurthig -10 X 2,802,541 8/1957 Albee. 2,925,283 2/1960Stilger -18 X 3,023,826 3/1962 Larson et a1. 3,029,855 4/1962 Telford190-53 X 3,236,538 2/1966 Johan sen 190-18 X FOREIGN PATENTS 723,3758/1942 Germany.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner. JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Examiner.

M. L. MINSK, Assistant Examiner.

1. WHEEL SHAPED LUGGAGE COMPRISING A WHEEL, SAID WHEEL HAVING A RIM FORROLLING ON A SUPPORTING SURFACE, AND A LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT POSITIONEDINSIDE THE RIM FOR TRANSPORTING CLOTHING AND OTHER ARTICLES, SAIDLUGGAGE COMPARTMENT HAVING TWO FLAT ENDS, ONE END THEREOF BEING ENTIRELYREMOVABLE AND FORMING A CLOSURE; AND A BAR FORMING A HANDLE HAVINGATTACHING MEMBERS, AT LEAST ONE OF THE ATTACHING MEMBERS BEING SECUREDTO THE CLOSURE, AND MOVABLE THEREWITH, THE OTHER ATTACHING MEMBER BEINGSECURED TO THE OPPOSITE END OF THE LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT, SAID BAR HAVINGA LENGTH IN EXCESS OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO ENDS OF THECOMPARTMENT SO THAT BY GRASPING THE BAR THE LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT CAN BEFREELY ROLLED AND LIFTED WITH ONE HAND.